Their Portraits
by TenThousandMiles
Summary: A drabble collection of the untold stories from my Klaroline full-length fic, And Beauty Remains. AU/AH Klaroline. Don't own TVD.
1. Came Into Picture

**Consider this a late birthday gift to the lovely** ** _chillwithJyl_** **. Thanks for always being there with me and** ** _Beauty_** **, your support means everything. Although it's almost 2 months late but better late than never, right? So… HAPPY BIRHTDAY dear!**

 **Aaaaaand there will be more drabbles for the lost tales I haven't told or didn't have time to write about in** ** _Beauty_** **. This one is about how Klaroline actually met for the first time in London, and it's** ** _not_** **in the uni.**

 **Enjoy and review!**

* * *

 ** _Came Into Picture_**

There were times like this, when Klaus felt vexed for nothing in particular and for everything at the same time. Maybe it was the gloomy weather, maybe it was the shirt and pants Kol'd left on the sofa in the living room (obviously due to his physical activity with an unknown female company after he went to the bar last night), maybe it was the fact that school began tomorrow, which meant he'd have to start teaching again and he wouldn't be able to have whole days to himself to paint as he did during summer vacation, or maybe it was just all of above. Anyway, Klaus was fretful.

He threw the painting brush in the pot of water and left the uncompleted portrait of an angel there on the easel, annoyed without reason.

He'd thought about ways to divert himself from the fidgety mood but what he usually did when this happened, which was basically having an outing with his beloved Henrik, couldn't be applied since his little brother was at his Mother's.

That left him only two choices.

One, go jogging. The run and sweat always worked when he needed to calm down for a complicated piece of drawing. He looked out of the window and saw the dark clouds hovering above the city. Perhaps it wasn't that good of an idea.

Two, his favorite art supply shop. He'd been running out of reds and there was a certain gold that was bothering him whenever he drew lately but he just couldn't mix it out.

A tiny tour to the store for inspiration could serve as an effective distraction, he thought. So he threw on his grey Henley, dark jeans and leather jacket and went for the Tube.

It wasn't long before he hopped of the Jubilee line at Green Park to transfer for Piccadilly, and it seemed like the Piccadilly train from the airport had just left for there were numerous travelers with baggage staggering along the hallway.

He was walking down the stairs when he spotted a glimmer of gold in the corner of his sight. He whipped his head to his side and saw a blonde with a pile- literally a pile- of luggage, having difficulties moving up the stairs from the platform.

Usually, he wasn't the kind of people that stretched out hands to those in need and especially not on days when he wasn't feeling right.

Somehow- call it fortune, call it chance- he, by uncharacteristically deciding to help the suffering girl out, made a choice that one day he would come to realize that had changed the entire blueprint and path of his life if it was a game of Monopoly.

"Having trouble with all the shoes you've brought?" Klaus joked as he went over to the girl, unable to see her face, which was blocked by the tied-up tower of baggage.

He could feel her shoulders sag on the other side of the wall of luggage as she complained after exhaling roughly, "seriously, haven't you Londonists heard of elevators? I mean, it's not my fault for bringing four suitcases on the subway- a girl's gotta dress herself for the upcoming semester!"

"They're called _lifts_ here, but yes, we've heard of elevators. You'll have to excuse the Underground system for not keeping up with the trend, _love_. It's practically a 200-year-old lady," liking her already, he chuckled, imagining how the girl with those heavenly gold locks and angelic voice would look like, "I see that you've chosen to arrive last minute before school starts? Universities in London starts tomorrow."

"Are you ever going to 'be a dear'- according to you British people- and help me carry these clogs up the stairs or did you just came to flirt with the poor American exchange student?" not answering his question at all, the blonde mocked a failed British accent as she tried to lift her heaped up bulk with the rope she used to fasten then into a tower, unable to see him from her side as well.

"Very subtle." Klaus teased but immediately lowered himself to lift the heavy pyramid up by its very bottom and gestured for her to follow suite on her side so the 'skyscraper' wouldn't tip.

She, with a series of exhausted sighs and yelps, did as she was told and with cooperation they finally carried her astonishing amount of preparation- clothes, shoes, accessories, books… the list could go on forever- to the floor where she could access the grey line.

Adjusting the shirt that had ridden up during the labor, Klaus concluded on his side, "that wasn't too hard. Better than waiting idly here for Tfl to renew the stations. They say lifts will be installed at the end of November."

"You British people really have to let go of history and embrace technology," the girl on the other side of the mountain of cases and bags giggled and it was the most pleasant melody Klaus had ever heard.

She was stretching her arm to shake him a thankyou and possibly even revealing herself from the blocking baggage-wall before she noticed the time on her watch, "oh my God I'm so super late! I'm supposed to be at the dorm ten minutes ago!"

Klaus tried to ask her where she was studying at and if she needed further assistance but she was rushing like a whirlwind, and before the words could come out from him, she was already gone with her wheeled luggage, leaving only a loud 'thanks but I really have to go' behind.

He still hadn't seen her appearance.

However, gazing after her diminishing back and the bouncing hallo of gold, he figured sometimes having space for imagination wouldn't hurt.

Grinning the widest grin in days without noticing, Klaus leaped down the stairs again, feeling optimistic for a start of a new semester for the first time in his 5 year teaching career. And at that time, little did he knew that the blonde girl he encountered was indeed a whirlwind. It was many years later when he accidentally put two and two together and realized his golden muse was in fact the whirlwind that had whisked him away, head over toes.

The one thing that he was sure about was that he finally knew what kind of gold to paint for the angel's hair that he left unfinished before leaving home earlier.

And that, was how Caroline Forbes came into his picture.

* * *

 **This drabble is also dedicated to the two gentlemen who helped me with my luggage at Green Park station and Heathrow. Although you don't know who I am and you've probably forgotten the poor girl with her cumbersome suitcase, I still thank you from the bottom of my heart. But seriously, every Tube station needs a hardware update.**

 **-A**


	2. Your Color

So this one takes place during Klaroline's fieldtrip, while they were on the train to Cambridge.

* * *

 _ **Your color**_

 _-Inspired by Coldplay's Kaleidoscope-_

Caroline quickly fished out her earphones once they settled in their reserved seats and the train started, gliding through a list of songs.

Klaus chuckled at her excited expression, staring at her with awe in his dark blue eyes, "now I cannot make up my mind whether to call you the bored teenager on boring museum tours or the child that couldn't sleep the night before fieldtrips, love."

"Say whatever you want," Caroline shot him a dazzling smile as she plugged the earphones into her ears, apparently deciding to play the adolescent rebel that nodded to the beats throughout the whole guidance in art galleries.

Klaus rolled his eyes good-naturedly and reached out a hand to pull at the cord of her earphone, evoking a childish 'hey!' from the blonde, "you know I expected more interaction and conversation when imagining the trip. Come on, don't be a dull, talk."

Trying to snatch her earphone back from him but in vain, she pouted, "give it back, Klaus! Listening to gloomy songs on gloomy English days has been on my to-do list since I started planning exchange in London- and that's a long time ago- and we happen to be on a train to god-knows-why-you-refuse-to-tell-me where, which certainly makes the plan even more perfect and urgent to tick off on the list. Now can you please help the girl out with her London experience fantasy and act like an adult, a proper teacher when she's trying to listen to Coldplay?"

"You serious, Coldplay? Thought you were the Taylor Swift kind of American girl," he cocked his brow while holding the cord even further when she attempted another attack, "and since you're not exactly acting like a nice student when your lecturer asks to talk to you, no, I refuse to be the teacher today."

"I thought we've had that stereotype talk already, when I ordered pink lady at the bar? And just so you know, girls all around the world- British girls, Australian girls, Asian girls, etc- listen to Taylor Swift's hits, thank you very much." She stuck her palm out in front of his nose and glared at him until he placed the white piece of music source back with a shake of his head.

"Fine. Gloomy English days, gloomy fieldtrip, gloomy English songs from gloomy British band. Got it, perfectly stereotyped British experience fantasy any American exchange student would have." He turned back and crossed his arms behind his head with a teasing grin on his lips.

Caroline was about to put the phone back into her ear when she realized he had fired her own words back at her, and of course her Miss Mystic queen bee self wouldn't allow that kind of insult, joke or not. So instead of starting another round of their usual bicker, she mustered the best royal smile from her Miss Mystic trainings and offered the cord in her perfectly polished fingers, "well I didn't really mean for the trip to be a gloomy one. I just wanted music, didn't say it have to be dull. Wanna share so we could maybe talk about it later, when I've had my share of gloominess?"

Klaus twisted his neck to look at her, arms still rested between the head rest and his head of sandy blond curls. And for a couple of moments, his eyes darted back and forth between the plug in her hand and the triumphant smile on her beautiful face, well aware of her challenge- it would mean he surrendered on their not-so-fierce round of verbal match if he'd taken her offer.

But damn it, the smile that graced her kissable pink lips where just to appealing that for once in Klaus Mikaelson's life, he didn't mind loosing. And she'd been acting weird around him recently. The stiff expression she wore when they met at the train station wasn't lost to him. So it makes it even easier for the alpha male in him to accept defeat if it cheers her up a little. He took the earphone willingly, fingers lingering longer than necessary when they brushed hers accidentally.

Trying to clear his mind of his student's lips he knew were lusciously soft from his last experience, he waited for the melody to stream in impatiently. But when the music did start, he had to turn and look at her again with contempt, "really, Yellow, of all songs?"

"What, it's like Coldplay's best hit!" Caroline defended, apologizing to a few other passengers that turned to glare at them for the constant noise.

"And also the most over-played, cheesy-" Klaus intended to keep his criticism flowing but was cut off by the obviously offended blonde, "no it's not! Okay, maybe it's a bit over-played, but it's definitely not. Cheesey. The lyrics are poetically beautiful, Mr. My-taste-is so-much-better-than-others."

He threw his hands in the air hearing her compliments, "you call that beautiful? You need a doctor to check your aesthetic, sweetheart. And don't you ever praise my art again if you're calling that poetic."

Caroline furrowed her brows for a while before finally bursting out into laughter, his reaction too dramatic and worked-up, "arrogant arse. I just love the way they weaved the color yellow through the lyrics, that's all. And yellow's like one of my favorite color, so."

Mood also lit up by Caroline's contagious giggle- even though he had been playing the whole picky asshole part just to kid with her- he couldn't help but let the smile crawl its way to his lips and stated matter-of-factly, "well I guess it's not really that hard to see. You're the bubbly, strong, optimistic and full-of-light kind of girl, so yellow definitely fits you."

"You do know you aren't bribing anything out of me from sweet talking, do you?" Caroline squinted teasingly, pressing stop on her smartphone, not bothering to listen to the music anymore.

And he just shrugged, "I meant it."

"I'll take it as a compliment, but on the contrary, yellow doesn't fit you. At all." Caroline pointed out, absorbed in the new opened conversation.

"Why I thought I was the kind of guy that looks good in pink," Klaus joked as he batted his eyelashes cheekily.

She winced at the image and nudged him, "ew, stop that, please. I prefer your tyrant self than this funny version. But seriously, what's your favorite color?"

Just as he was about to decide whether he liked the gold of her hair better or the hazy blue tinted with grey and green flecks of her eyes better, she blurted out once more, "oh wait, wait, wait, don't tell me just yet! I want to guess."

She crooked her fingers at her chin, crystal orbs floating upwards, deep in thoughts, "hmmm…you're most definitely not a green type, nor an orange one… warm colors don't fit you. Okay, I think black goes… but that's too simple for you. Grey's too gloomy and you're hardly pure gloomy so that's a no as well."

Caroline kept on murmuring to herself as the wheels in her head turned and her mind sped. Klaus just sat quietly at her side, enjoying the way she devoted all herself into such a trivial question about him. Really, this girl never ceased to surprise and entertain him. He could pull her into his arms, flushed tightly against his chest and claim her mumbling lips right then and there, if only they hadn't joked about their teacher-student relationship so loud that the whole train knew.

Oh, how he wanted to feel the roundness of her breasts rubbing against him again…

"Umm, I think reddish color fits you well, but pure red like fire engine is obviously too… too straightforward for you. I mean, that'd be the color, arrogant and rude, other students in the class would pick for you, that I am sure of, but there's just more in your personality…" Caroline analyzed, unaware of how intimate the truth that lied behind her words sounded. Even she herself hadn't noticed how close she was to Klaus' true self, one that he hadn't showed anyone other than his family for all his life, "burgundy would be a good guess if it weren't so dark and lacking of fierceness. Crimson is just too bright so maybe… oh I know, I know! I'll go with scarlet. Like, the royal, ambitious, torn between light and darkness kind of scarlet. That should be your color."

Klaus took in her anticipating expression, knowing well that she was expecting him to admit her right. Although the whole conversation started off based on 'favorite colors' and his was currently the shade of blush on her cheeks now that he was holding her gaze so intensely, he guessed he could agree on her point with scarlet being his color. He'd be proud to accept it if that was what she came up with after a whole round of brainstorming, and just knowing how deeply she knew him was satisfying enough. Plus, he'd already handed victory on a silver platter to her once earlier today, it wouldn't hurt to give her this one as well, would it?

So he simply nodded and was rewarded a full-force Caroline-Forbes victory grin.

"Okay, now I've guessed your color, why don't you tell me what my color should be?" Caroline challenged.

"That's quite easy you know, love." He shrugged, sporting that confident, at ease smile on his stubbled face.

"Well?"

"It's easy because you don't have a color, love," he leaned in as he explained, invading her personal space and enjoying how her breath shallowed, "you're a galaxy of multiple colors, lights, glows, stars, stories, emotions, beauty and so many shades beyond definition, Caroline. You're like a classic book that can still be interpreted a new theory even after being read the thousandth time, except you're only more intriguing; you're an innovative landscape that can be viewed from so many different point of views that no one would lose the interest in admiring you; you're a diamond that reflects ever-changing glitters in different angles that shines through the darkest night and for that, I can never tire of reading you, enjoying you."

"You're a kaleidoscope, Caroline."

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Did I mention Yellow is one of my fav songs?


End file.
